Monthly Archives: December 2015

Posted onDecember 1, 2015|Comments Off on Instability in Marketplaces Draws Concern on Both Sides of Health Law

“’People who were previously uninsured are indisputably better off, but many people in the middle class are struggling. They are entitled to buy health insurance, but that is an empty promise if the number of doctors and hospitals in your network has shrunk and deductibles have soared’…frustration with rising premiums and deductibles had fueled disillusionment, as had the recent collapse of a nonprofit cooperative that was the most popular insurer on the Colorado exchange…insurance markets in many states are unstable. Premiums are volatile. Insurers say their new customers have been sicker than expected…’incredibly expensive’ coverage…this year (for small business owners and others) using the federal exchange even though they did not qualify for premium subsidies…’Where is my premium payment going? If it’s providing more health care to people who didn’t have it before, then I’m okay with it…

…but if it’s going to a private insurance company who wants to pay larger dividends to its shareholders and salaries to its executives, I’m not happy…

…Are there upsides to this? Yes. Were people in some way sold an optimistic view that is not panning out? Yes. People are angry and frustrated with that. The kinds of coverage and care they hoped they would have are just not there…Employers are outraged about the burden of having to report to the Internal Revenue Service on the insurance coverage they provide to each of their employees. The amount of effort they spend to comply with the reporting requirements of health care reform is truly unbelievable.’ (small business owners speaking from New Hampshire and Indiana)…Whether the problems in the marketplaces are just temporary setbacks for the law, as the White House contends, or signs of fundamental problems, as Republicans say, is not clear.”